Greek word · G583

ἀπογράφω

apographō

to register

Basic sense: "to write off / write down from," so to copy, list, or register. In administrative Greek it is the standard verb for entering people and property in official records. In the middle voice it means to register oneself or file a return.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀπο-γράφω

[in LXX: Judges 8:14, Proverbs 22:20 (כָּתַב), I Est.8:30, 3Ma.2:29 3Mac 4:14 3Mac 6:34 3Mac 6:38 * ;]

1. to write out, copy.

2. to enrol; mid., to enrol oneself: Luke 2:1 (M, Pr., 162; but. see ICC, in l), Luke 2:3, 5; pass., Hebrews 12:23 (see reff, see word ἀπογραφή ).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Luke 2:1

Range of meaning

Basic sense: "to write off / write down from," so to copy, list, or register. In administrative Greek it is the standard verb for entering people and property in official records. In the middle voice it means to register oneself or file a return. The noun apographē (Luke 2:2; Acts 5:37) means a register or census.

Against the English

KJV has "taxed" (inherited from Tyndale). WEB/YLT have "enrolled," ESV "registered," BSB/NIV/NASB/NLT "census." "Registered" and "enrolled" are closest to the word. "Census" names the institution. "Taxed" gives the purpose of the census, not the act the word describes.

How it drifted

In 1611 "to tax" could still mean "to assess or rate" for tax (from Latin taxare, to appraise). Today "taxed" means paying money. So a modern reader of the KJV pictures Joseph going to Bethlehem to pay a tax bill, when the text describes being entered on a register.

Used elsewhere in the period

Roman Egypt has hundreds of surviving household census returns (kat' oikian apographai), filed every fourteen years, that list each member of the household and the property held. An edict of the prefect of Egypt, Gaius Vibius Maximus (AD 104, P.Lond. 904), ordered people living away from home to return to their own districts for the registration. Josephus uses apographē for the census Quirinius carried out in Judea in AD 6 (Antiquities 18.1–3). Hebrews 12:23 uses the verb for the firstborn "enrolled in heaven."

From the study of Luke 2:5

Range of meaning

To write out or copy; above all, to enter a person or property on an official register. In the middle voice, to register oneself or make one's own declaration. Its noun apographē (Luke 2:2) is the technical term for a census return or declaration.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and NASB have 'register'; ESV has 'be registered'; WEB and YLT have 'enroll/enrol himself'. KJV, following Tyndale, has 'to be taxed'.

How it drifted

Early English translators knew that Roman censuses served tax assessment, so they rendered the act by its purpose. Today 'taxed' means paying money. The verb, though, describes giving your name, household and property to the authorities. Payment came later, on the basis of the list.

Used elsewhere in the period

Documentary papyri from Roman Egypt contain hundreds of household census returns, each called an apographē kat' oikian ('registration by household'). In them the head of the household lists wife, children and dependants. The verb is common in such documents. Josephus uses apographē for Quirinius' census of Judea (Antiquities 18.1–2).

From the study of Hebrews 12:23

Range of meaning

To register or enroll, usually on an official list: a census, a tax roll, a city's citizen register. In Luke 2:1–5 it is the 'registration' under Augustus.

Against the English

'Written in heaven' (KJV) or 'names are written in heaven' (NIV) is accurate but hides the official sense. 'Enrolled' (ESV, NASB, WEB, BSB, YLT) keeps the picture of a census list.

Used elsewhere in the period

Census papyri from Roman Egypt use apographē for household registrations. Psalm 87:5–6 (86 in the Septuagint) has God registering the peoples as 'born in Zion'. See also Exod 32:32; Dan 12:1; Luke 10:20; Phil 4:3; Rev 21:27.

Similar words

Where it appears

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 2:1 ἀπογράφεσθαι to register

    Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

    Here: Present infinitive giving what the decree ordered: that people be registered, or register themselves (the form can be read either way). Names, households and property were written onto official rolls, which then served as the basis for tribute.

  2. Luke 2:3 ἀπογράφεσθαι, to be registered,

    And everyone went to his own town to register.

  3. Luke 2:5 ἀπογράψασθαι to register

    He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.

    Here: Literally 'to write off/down' onto an official list. The middle voice means 'to get oneself entered' on the census roll. It is an infinitive of purpose: it gives the reason Joseph 'went up' in verse 4. It picks up the census decree (apographē) of verses 1–3.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 12:23 ἀπογεγραμμένων enrolled

    in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

    Here: 'Having been enrolled', as on a census or citizen list. The perfect tense means the enrollment is done and still stands: their names are on the city's register.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.